Questions, documents and free checks to work through before you sign any formal debt option or pay a debt help firm.
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Use this checklist before you sign a debt agreement proposal, a personal insolvency agreement or a bankruptcy application, and before you pay anyone to help you. The first group exists because many people who end up in a formal option could have resolved their debts with free help: a hardship variation from each lender, a payment plan negotiated by a financial counsellor, or the discovery that an old debt can no longer be enforced.
The numbers group gives you what AFSA, a trustee or a counsellor will ask for, and lets you compare your situation with the debt agreement thresholds and the income contribution estimator.
The questions group targets the most common failure cases: fees that are much higher than expected, firms that are not registered or licensed, and surprises about the home, the car, an occupational licence or a partner's liability for joint debts. The last group is about consequences that last: every debt agreement, personal insolvency agreement and bankruptcy is recorded on the National Personal Insolvency Index (bankruptcy and Part X with no removal date, debt agreements for at least 5 years) and appears on credit reports for years.
This checklist is general information, not legal or financial advice. See the debt option decision checklist for how to use the answers.
Mistakes, Failure Cases and Official Sources
How to complain about a refused hardship request, a default, a debt collector or irresponsible lending in Australia, RG 271 timeframes, AFCA's free process and what it can achieve.
Mistakes, Failure Cases and Official Sources
What a bankruptcy notice is in Australia, the 21-day deadline, the $10,000 creditor's petition minimum, how to respond, set aside or negotiate, and what happens at the court hearing.
Debt Options, Thresholds and 2026 Rules
The status of Australian personal insolvency reforms as at October 2026, including the lapsed one-year bankruptcy bill, the 2019 debt agreement changes and current proposals.
Worked Examples and Checklists
Credit report retention periods for bankruptcy, debt agreements, defaults, judgments and hardship under Australia's Privacy Act Part IIIA, with worked timelines and NPII rules.
Mistakes, Failure Cases and Official Sources
What debt collectors can and cannot do in Australia, contact limits in the ACCC and ASIC Debt collection guideline, debt buyers, disputing a debt, and how to complain.
Mistakes, Failure Cases and Official Sources
The most common and costly mistakes Australians make when dealing with debt, from paying debt firms and unaffordable debt agreements to ignoring bankruptcy notices, with what to do instead.
